1942~ 2024
Mary Sharry, age 81, of Empire, Michigan, passed away surrounded by her family at her home on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, after a well-fought battle with cancer.
Mary was born on December 1, 1942, in Toledo, Ohio. In 1951 Mary and her mother Mildred moved to Detroit and then eventually to Nashville, MI, where Mary attended and graduated from Hastings High School, in 1961. Following high school Mary attended Davenport College where she trained in secretarial skills, including the obsolete practice of shorthand. Mary worked as a secretary in Grand Rapids before she relocated to Detroit where she worked as executive secretary to the editor of the Detroit Free Press, Joe Stroud. In 1970, while driving home from a visit to Niagara Falls with her mother, Mary met, and eventually married, Jack Sharry. Mary continued working at the Free Press until the birth of her first child, Jessica. After becoming a mother, Mary turned her focus to the home where she raised and homeschooled both of her children, Jessica and Gabriel, until she returned to the workforce in 1990 as a census taker and then as relief postmaster at the Empire Post Office. In the mid-1990s Mary pursued higher education and earned her BFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College.
In childhood Mary would often travel to Glen Lake with her parents and grandparents where they would camp during summers at what is now known as Dorsey’s on Glen Lake. In the early 1980s Mary and Jack purchased a cottage on Glen Lake where they spent summers until 1989, when they sold their home in Northville and moved to Empire as yearround residents.
At a young age Mary developed a love of ballet. Mary danced under the tutelage of Chrystal Case in Hastings, MI and Sally Seven of the Grand Rapids Civic Ballet. Mary danced the principal role in a production of Swan Lake, and roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen in the Nutcracker. Mary’s creativity extended beyond the dance floor when, in the 1980s, she discovered talents for oil painting (particularly her land and waterscapes) and writing short stories - some of which have been published in the Dunes Review, The Glen Arbor Sun, and in the book Telling Stories by the Bay, Selected Writings by Members of the Fiction Writers Group of the Elizabeth Lane Oliver Center for the Arts. Around the age of 60 Mary began studying classical violin, and eventually joined both the Traverse Symphony Orchestra Civic Strings and Benzie Area Symphony Orchestra.
Mary was an advocate for and passionate defender of a multitude of issues dear to her heart. These included homeschooling, the environment, the natural world, the arts, human rights, indigenous and minority populations, democracy, the free press and locally – the viability of the Village of Empire as an affordable, thriving and year-round community of families and small business alike. Mary’s love of northern Michigan, and Empire specifically, ran deep.
All of Mary’s endeavors were reflective of her depth. Her upbeat personality and joyful nature preceded every interaction be it with family, friends or strangers. Though Mary has left this world in body and is deeply missed by her children, her beloved companion Bill, and all her friends and extended family, she lives on in the hearts and memories of all who loved her. Mary was the family historian – a role that came naturally to her thanks to her acute powers of observation and memory. Mary would often tell family stories in phone calls and emails. Mary was the granddaughter of preachers on both her maternal and paternal side. Baptized twice though not religious, Mary was deeply spiritual and often spoke of Oneness. In the spirit of Oneness let us remember Mary in the trees, the wind, the birds, the monarchs, the big lake, music and in our own hearts. Mary was preceded in death by her parents Garth Morris and Mildred (Gibson) Morris, and her former husband, Jack Sharry. She is survived by her children Jessica Sharry (Tero Valtonen) and Gabriel Sharry, her companion William Dickinson, and many beloved cousins including Becky (Ken) McCabe, Tina Wetzel, Bill (Conni) St. Angelo, Kalynn (Steve) Potter, Karen (Ron) Roby, Judy (Steve) Bogard, Linda Brennan, Barbara Gardner, and Nancy Toth.
Per Mary’s wishes, cremation will take place and no services will be held. Memorial contributions in Mary’s honor may be given to the Glen Lake Fire Department. Please visit www.reynoldsjonkhoff .com to share condolences and memories with her family.
